Crossing dimensions
by Schwerelos
Summary: Sailor Pluto meets the Doctor.


It had certainly been a while since she had seen someone. Last time, the sailor scouts had needed all the help they could get and it had been imperious for her to attend the battlefield: her duties as a scout were not necessarily over her duties as the time guardian, but her loyalties to the princess were stronger and there were occasions when she couldn't stay indifferent to the battle.

After peace was regained, she had no further excuses to stay away from her regular duties and she had returned to the Door of Space-Time. She would be lying if she said that she hadn't felt disappointed by leaving; she loved being able to interact with people, especially the other sailors, her smiley princess and of course, Small Lady, but that was the life of the Guardian of Time.

Some days she felt conflicted: she longed for an excuse that made her leave, but she knew that such excuse would only present itself in occasions of war. She felt guilty because the last thing she would want was for something to threaten the peace they had fought so hardly to achieve.

Thus, her days returned to their unchanging and uneventful pace. It was hard to know when days ended and nights began, for everything remained the same in that dimension. Years could pass without her noticing, seasons went by equal to one another, and she remained the same, all the time, for all time.

She certainly had not expected to meet someone else in that very place, the unreachable Gates of Time.

He appeared out of the blue-in a blue telephone box, to be more exact, and he didn't feel surprised at all to find himself in such a different and strange place. She didn't know what to think: time travelers were not unheard of, but they were rare and scarce, and she had never seen this particular individual in all her time as an observant guardian of time. It was not that she knew every single person that inhabited this dimension, but she thought she knew all those who had the possibility to travel through time. She was obviously mistaken.

"Who are you?" she asked, approaching cautiously.

"I'm the Doctor," he beamed at her.

"How did you-?"

"Well, this is quite a gloomy place," he said, looking around. "What is it, the ruins of some marvelous civilization?"

"Excuse me?" She blinked.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have lost my way, could you explain-"

"You must have lost your way entirely to end up in this place."

"Which is.."

"You have reached the Gates of Time."

The _Doctor _blinked, looking a bit confused.

"I didn't know we had those."

"The Door of Time has existed ever since the beginning, connecting past, present and future. Very few who reach this place are unaware of that fact."

"And you are?"

"The Guardian of Time."

"You mean it is your job to stay here and protect this door?"

"That is my mission."

"All the time?"

"Whenever there is no emergency that requires my presence elsewhere, yes."

"...that must be pretty lonely, eh?"

She blinked again. "...that is the way it must be."

"No it isn't. I used to think that way myself once and then I decided that I didn't like that option much, so here I am."

"E-Excuse me?"

"I'm a Time Lord."

She was left speechless, to say the least. She had indeed heard of a race that was said to hold control over time and space but she thought those were only legends. She never would have thought that she would one day encounter one herself.

He looked amused. "Ah, so you have heard of me."

"Several stories. I thought they were only-"

"Legends."

"Yes, indeed."

"As you see, I am as real as you are. And as confused as you, too, it seems. I really didn't know such a place existed."

He walked around, poking now and then, examining everything with utmost curiosity.

She watched him intensely. "It really is true, then? You can go wherever you want?"

"And whenever I want. Gives you quite a handful of opportunities."

"That is absolutely-"

"Incredible? I know! All of time and space at your reach." He looked back at her. "Say, wouldn't you like to join me?"

"Me? But I am bound to-"

"-guard this place, I know. But see, time can be toyed with in so many forms that actually guarding this place doesn't really do much, I'd say. You had never heard of me and here I've been traveling around, poking around, fixing around, without you ever noticing."

She stared. She didn't like much that idea.

"It is my duty to stay."

"Alright," he nodded. "I respect that. But I think you need at least a week off." He smiled. "Come on, you wouldn't say no to all those chances waiting for you?"

She blinked yet again. She had never thought it could be possible for her. Yes, she had all of time available for her, but at what cost? And here he was, a Time Lord, offering her the chance to see it all.

How could she say no to one of her biggest dreams?

"If I go-I couldn't be sure that nothing would happen here and.."

He smiled at her. "Time is not what people think it is. So actually, time is constantly changing. The future you believe you are protecting is never the same. Every single moment, every single act, every decision, makes it all different. So now you have a choice. You could stay here and protect the ever-changing ways of time... or you could come with me and decide what to change in this world. In all worlds."

She breathed, overwhelmed. All her life, all she had known was this. The only thing she had ever been certain of was that her destiny lied here, trapped, alone, guarding the door of time forever. Yet she knew deep inside that what he was saying was also true; she had just seen a completely unexpected event occur to her princess and her companions, something that not even her had been able to predict.

It could happen again, she knew. And what good she would do by staying if life could surprise her like that, time and time again?

"I'm not telling you to leave forever. I promise to bring you back, if you ever so desire. But why waste this now, why lose this moment, when it's only happening right now?"

She looked at him and smiled. She nodded and walked towards him.

Time could wait this once.

He led her to the blue telephone box, more excited than ever.

"Right! So, where do you want to go? And I believe I didn't catch your name, I'm all in for being called just the Doctor, but I don't think you want to be called 'guardian of time', right?"

She smiled, looking back at the time dimension one last time, before closing the door.

"It's Setsuna."


End file.
